Saturday, April 10, 2010

events 101D - wait until the last minute, guaranteed to reduce ROI

Wait until the last minute!


Want to guarantee all your hard work will produce very little results? Wait until the last minute. Wondering why you read about other golf tournaments raising over $100,000? A gala evening raising over $250,000.00? Why your tournament only raised $5000, your gala dinner only netted $3500?

Wait until the last minute to do what you have had a six months or a year to do. Guaranteed to stress you out, minimize results and waste time and money.

Great events, especially fundraisers, benefit from a dedicated committee, who are self motivated, self directed and passionate about success.

Example: at this moment we have several events ongoing. Two charities are hosting similar galas in similar time frames, with similar resources and similar economic challenges. Both have volunteers on their event committees, both have availed themselves of our full consulting and training resources, and full administration, event production and planning resources. Both events have had several months lead time.

One event will have gross revenues of over $350,000, with a net profit of around $280,000.00. The other event will raise about $10,000 net.

The difference between the two committees – one group followed the timeline and the critical path exactly. The other has been so ingrained in doing everything at the last minute, that no amount of consulting, guidance, meetings, begging or pleading could entice them to change their habits.

How can we as event consultants motivate? Is it our responsibility? Who is responsible to create a culture of success? What makes the difference from one committee to another?

Your feedback would be invaluable.

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